Keyword Research 2.0

We launched the new SEO Research Labs site today, with an appearance on Brad Fallon's SEO Radio. SEO Radio is new, but they've already covered some great topics. The format works pretty well, with almost a full hour, and segments long enough to have a good conversation.

The main reason for the relaunch and hype is the addition of a few new keyword metrics to our keyword reports, including:
- KEI calculations based on "intitle" and "intitle+inanchor" results, in addition to the "old school" Wordtracker formula. In this sample report (MS Excel, zip archive), you can see how a more accurate KEI score properly identifies "SEO company" as a better search term than "SEO" by itself, which the Wordtracker formula sees the other way around.
- Link popularity / competition data for top ranked sites, courtesy of Alexa data services. This is a really unique measure, based on the number of unique sites linking in, rather than the number of pages, which provides a much better indication of how much work it will take to outlink the competition.
- We also have the usual metrics, enhanced a bit: color-coded Overture bid data, search term popularity from Wordtracker, and estimated click-through traffic for ranked sites based on our logfile data mining program.

The scariest part of launching this site, besides building the keyword metrics application: putting my trust in a conversion rate specialist instead of building my usual direct-response site. I'm throwing a bunch of Adwords/Adsense traffic at this thing to see if it really converts any better.